Osama bin Laden´s son-in-law has been captured and is in the hands of the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, two administration officials said on Thursday. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, was captured within the last week in Jordan, according to a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Peter King of New York. The lawmaker had been told of the capture by law enforcement officials. Congress was notified when Ghaith was taken into U.S. custody, the officials said.

Abu Ghaith was a high school teacher and preacher at a mosque in Kuwait, the U.S. Treasury says on its website. “He fought in Afghanistan, accused the U.S. government of killing children in Iraq through U.N. sanctions

Abu Ghayth Allegedly Appeared with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri After September 11, 2001, Threatening Additional Attacks Against the United States

U.S. Department of Justice
March 07, 2013

Office of Public Affairs

WASHINGTONSulaiman Abu Ghayth, a/k/a Suleiman Abu Gayth, a former associate of Osama bin Laden, has been arrested and charged in an indictment unsealed today in New York City with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, announced Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBIs New York Field Office George Venizelos, and the Police Commissioner of the City of New York (NYPD) Raymond W. Kelly. Abu Ghayth is expected to be presented and arraigned tomorrow, March 8, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring Americas enemies to justice, said Attorney General Holder. To violent extremists who threaten the American people and seek to undermine our way of life, this arrest sends an unmistakable message: There is no corner of the world where you can escape from justice because we will do everything in our power to hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

The arrest of Abu Ghayth is an important milestone in our ongoing counterterrorism efforts. I applaud the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors responsible for bringing about this significant case and arrest, said Assistant Attorney General Monaco.

It has been 13 years since Abu Ghayth allegedly worked alongside Osama bin Laden in his campaign of terror and 13 years since he allegedly took to the public airwaves, exhorting others to embrace al Qaedas cause and warning of more terrorist attacks like the mass murder of 9/11, said U.S. Attorney Bharara. The memory of those attacks is indelibly etched on the American psyche, and todays action is the latest example of our commitment to capturing and punishing enemies of the United States, no matter how long it takes.

Sulaiman Abu Ghayth held a key position in al Qaeda, comparable to the consigliere in a mob family or propaganda minister in a totalitarian regime, said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos. He used his position to persuade others to swear loyalty to al Qaedas murderous cause. He used his position to threaten the United States and incite its enemies. His apprehension is another important step in the campaign to limit the reach of al Qaeda and enhance our national and international security.

While New York City must remain vigilant to continued terrorist threats against it, Abu Ghayths apprehension and prosecution promises to close another chapter in al Qaedas notoriously violent history of killing Americans, said NYPD Commissioner Kelly. This case also represents another success in the ongoing partnership between federal agents and NYPD detectives through the JTTF.

As alleged in the superseding indictment that has been filed against Abu Ghayth in federal court:

Since around 1989, al Qaeda has been an international terrorist organization dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence. Osama bin Laden served as the leader, or emir, of al Qaeda until his death on or about May 2, 2011. Members of al Qaeda typically have pledged an oath of allegiance, called bayat, to bin Laden and to al Qaeda.

The core purpose of al Qaeda, as stated by bin Laden and other leaders, is to support violent attacks against property and nationals, both military and civilian, of the United States and other countries. Between 1989 and 2001, al Qaeda established training camps, guest houses, and business operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries for the purpose of training and supporting its agenda of violence and murder. Members and associates of al Qaeda have executed a number of terrorist attacks, all in furtherance of the organizations stated conspiracy to kill Americans, including the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, which killed approximately 2,976 people.

From at least May 2001 up to around 2002, Abu Ghayth served alongside Osama bin Laden, appearing with bin Laden and his then-deputy Ayman al Zawahiri, speaking on behalf of the terrorist organization and in support of its mission, and warning that attacks similar to those of September 11, 2001, would continue.

In particular, around May 2001, Abu Ghayth urged individuals at a guest house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to swear bayat to bin Laden. On the evening of September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks on the United States, bin Laden summoned Abu Gayth and asked for his assistance, and he agreed to provide it. On the morning of September 12, 2001, Abu Ghayth, appeared with bin Laden and al Zawahiri and spoke on behalf of al Qaeda, warning the United States and its allies that [a] great army is gathering against you and called upon the nation of Islam to do battle against the Jews, the Christians, and the Americans. Also, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Abu Ghayth delivered a speech in which he addressed the then-U.S. Secretary of State and warned that the storms shall not stop, especially the airplanes storm and advised Muslims, children, and opponents of the United States not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises.

Abu Gayth arranged to be, and was, successfully smuggled from Afghanistan into Iran in 2002.

* * * * *

The indictment charges Abu Ghayth with participating in a conspiracy to kill United States nationals, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2332(b). The offense carries a maximum term of imprisonment of life. No trial date has yet been set in the case.

The charges and arrest of Abu Ghayth are the result of the close cooperative efforts of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, the Joint Terrorism Task Forcewhich principally consists of agents and detectives of the FBI and the New York City Police Departmentthe United States Marshals Service and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State also provided assistance.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys John P. Cronan and Michael Ferrara of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, with assistance from Trial Attorney Jolie Zimmerman of the National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SNIPPET: “But if the US can transport Abu Ghaith onto US soil and prosecute him for terrorist activities, why couldn’t the Obama administration do the same with Musa Ali Daqduq, the senior Hezbollah commander who was captured in Iraq in 2007? The US Department of Justice had planned to prosecute Daqduq and the FBI was building a case against him.

Daqduq was directly implicated in the kidnapping and murder of seven US soldiers in Karbala in January 2007. He was in US custody up until December 2011, just before the US withdrew from Iraq.

Although the administration argued that it had to turn over Daqduq to Iraqi custody upon withdrawal, Daqduq was not an Iraqi citizen.”

SNIPPET: “He was transferred to Iraqi custody and subsequently released in November 2012.

Ironically, the US Treasury Department added Daqduq to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists just days after he was released from Iraqi custody.

The release of Daqduq is a major counterterrorism failure for the Obama administration. He has since returned to Lebanon, where he is now back in business with Hezbollah.”

SNIPPET: “Iran has allowed an al Qaeda terrorist who served as Osama bin Ladens spokesman to return to Afghanistan. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti preacher who gained worldwide infamy after the September 11 attacks, had lived in Iran since early 2002, and was reportedly held under a loose form of house arrest beginning in 2003.

Abu Ghaiths departure from Iran was first reported by the Kuwaiti press, which has long tracked the influential cleric because of his following inside Kuwait and beyond. The preacher was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship in late 2001 after promising another al Qaeda strike on America during an appearance on Al Jazeera.

Al Watan, an online Kuwaiti newspaper, reported earlier this month that three batches of al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists have been released by Iran in exchange for the release of Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped by the Taliban in northern Pakistan in 2008. Abu Ghaith was among the terrorists released in the third and final batch.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal say the account is credible. But, these officials say, Ghaiths house arrest was really a form of safe haven.

Post-9/11 threats

Abu Ghaith garnished widespread media coverage in the weeks following the September 11 attacks. In a statement released in October 2001, he praised the 9/11 hijackers and threatened more attacks.”

MILAN, Italy  Italian anti-terrorism investigators, poring over hundreds of hours of surreptitiously recorded conversations among members of Europe’s most important al-Qaida outpost, say they are convinced a cell in Milan supplied false passports and other bogus documents to al-Qaida operatives who may have succeeded in entering the United States.

The absence of any apparent contact between the Milan al-Qaida operation and the Sept. 11 hijackers, who spawned their deadly plot in Hamburg, Germany, could mean that other potential al-Qaida terrorists managed to take up residence in the United States before Sept. 11 and may still be there awaiting a signal to strike.

That possibility was underscored last week when U.S. authorities confirmed the authenticity of a declaration by the chief al-Qaida spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, that the organization retains “the capability to threaten America and execute such threats.”

In Washington, D.C., the FBI declined to comment on the investigations of what a spokesman called “our European partners.” But after Sept. 11, U.S. officials disclosed that they were monitoring several suspected al-Qaida cells in the United States, and CBS News last week cited intelligence reports appearing to confirm that “al-Qaida is still active in the United States.”

SNIPPET: “Finally, I would note that there was speculation in some of the initial reports about Sayf al-Adls release in 2009 that the Iranian diplomat prisoner swap had also included the release of Abu Ghaith and Abu Hafs al-Muritani at that time. Since we now know that wasnt the case, it raises further questions about the current whereabouts of Sayf al-Adl. He, and his colleague Abu Muhammad al-Masri, may very well still be in Iran, or only recently released. I would imagine that it is the fates of these men that the US government is most eager to learn details of from Abu Ghaith, now that he is in custody.”

Saif al-Adel is believed to be a high-ranking member of the al-Qaida organization. He has been indicted for his alleged role in the August 7, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.

The individual listed above has been indicted on the following charges:

Conspiracy to kill United States nationals, to murder, to destroy buildings and property of the United States, and to destroy national defense utilities of the United States.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, Saif al-Adel, Anas al-Liby, Ahmed Mohamed Hamed Ali, the now deceased Usama bin Ladin and others already in custody are believed to be responsible for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya on August 7, 1998. The embassy bombings killed 224 civilians and wounded over 5,000 others. These terrorists are believed to be members of al-Qaida, an international terrorist network..

SNIPPET: “MANHATTAN (CN) - Opening arguments for biggest terrorism trial to hit federal courts in recent memory began with a mention of the worst attacks on U.S. soil and ended with a reference to the infamous massacre that preceded the nation’s founding.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lewis set the stage for his remarks with the words, “It was the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001,” when nearly 3,000 people died in attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

On “the most important night in al-Qaida’s savage history,” Osama bin Laden needed a man to “rally his troops,” Lewin said, as he moved behind the defense table.

Attorneys for neither party mentioned that Abu Ghaith was bin Laden’s son-in-law.

The prosecutor said that Abu Ghaith accepted bin Laden’s offer and appeared the next morning with him and bin Laden’s then-deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. Speaking on behalf of al-Qaida, Abu Ghaith allegedly warned the United States and its allies that a “great army is gathering against you.””

SNIPPET: “ MANHATTAN (CN) - A British man testifying on Monday at the trial of Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law said he planned to blow up a plane on a domestic flight on a suicide mission, along with “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid, after the Sept. 11 attacks, but bailed on the plan at the last minute.

“I was supposed to fly to the United States of America” in December 2001, Saajid Badat testified from London via live video during the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who is accused of conspiring to kill Americans and supporting a terrorist organization.

Badat outlined plans that he said bin Laden and “five to 10” others hatched to “destroy an airplane.” “We were supposed to bring down flights,” he said.

He said he “spoke to Osama bin Laden” in September or early October 2001, and that bin Laden and about “five to 10 people” were “talking about this particular mission,” and that he and Reid were to be given an “explosive device.””

SNIPPET: “He testified that depending on how the plot progressed with al Qaida higher-ups, he and Reid were to board separate domestic flights with explosives hidden in their shoes and detonate them.

SNIPPET: “(Reuters) - Suleiman Abu Ghaith admitted that months before al Qaeda’s 2001 hijacked jet attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he promised Osama bin Laden he would be a spokesman for the group, an FBI agent testified on Thursday in a U.S. court.”

SNIPPET: “The case is U.S. v. Abu Ghayth, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 98-cr-01023.”

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.